Stewart Tank
Allied Stewart Tank "When war breaks, we fix it." :- Stewart commander Tactical Analysis * Surprisingly Light-Heavyweight: The Stewart is an extremely modern light tank that forms the core of the Allied "Air Armoured Cavalry" brigades. It packs extreme damage output and flexibility into a lightweight, airmobile and amphibious chassis. * The Best Offense...: The M18 155mm gun/launcher system is the secret to the Stewart's success. It can switch between high explosive rounds for anti-fortification work, or wire-guided missiles designed to smash tanks. A .50 cal machine gun rounds off its capabilities by providing anti air and anti infantry protection. * ...Is Not a Good Defence: However, the extremely aggressive design leaves the Stewart with a considerable weakness; its extremely thin aluminium armour cannot withstand much punishment; while it can shrug off small arms fire, anti tank weapons will make short work of it. * Dangerous For Both Sides: Veteran crews disregard the proper loading procedures in favour of "hot loading" prepped rounds into a half-opened chamber as each is fired. Though dangerous to the inexperienced, it cuts the loading time by two-thirds, letting the Stewart bring its weapons to bear on enemies that much faster. Operational History Well Refined Ore Corporation is first and foremost an ore refining company, and most in the Allied military only know of WROC through their Prospector. However, WROC has made some forays into the world of military contracting. Despite their lack of experience in armoured vehicle design, the corporation has gotten off to a good start, as shown with their M555 Stewart Airborne Assault Tank. Entering into the Allied Peacekeepers' "Armoured Airborne Vehicle" Competition, they surprised the competition with their bold and innovative design. The requirements for the tank were that it was to be light enough to be carried by a helicopter, droppable by parachute and amphibious. WROC was facing off against several other competitors, including United Armour, Towne-Travers Technologies, AdvanceArmour Inc, and Neptune Hovercraft. Towne-Travers submitted a modified version of the Multigunner IFV, adding a supercharged engine, amphibious capability, and several other features, stripping out what little armour Multigunner possessed in the process. While not nearly as well armoured or armed as its competition, it was the fastest. United Armour's Hunter Tank combined the wheeled hull of an APC with the turret of a main battle tank, and was armed with a high velocity 75mm main gun. To reduce weight and retain survivability at the same time, it had a titanium alloy hull. Despite this, it was one of the heaviest tanks in the competition, although it was also the best protected. AdvanceArmour submitted the Talos, little changed except for a pair of screw propellers that added amphibious capability. They might have won, except for the fact that they withdrew for reasons unknown early in the competition. Neptune Hovercraft tried to enter the Crocodile Hovertank, and were effectively laughed out of the competition before it had even started. The Stewart Tank sported a relatively conventional aluminium hull. Weighing in at 15.2 tonnes, it was equipped with a water jet propulsion system to allow it to cross water bodies, and met all the weight requirements, as did the other designs. Initially, it looked like the winner of the competition would either be the Hunter or the Talos, with the Stewart the apparent underdog. At first its short, stubby barrel seemed ridiculous. Then the Stewart took out a mock Hammer Tank in a single shot, stunning the rest of the competition and the judges. Even the Talos, with its formidable railgun and all, would have found itself outgunned, had it not already been withdrawn from the competition. The secret to the Stewart's firepower was the M18 155mm gun/launcher. When officials learned of the M18's calibre, they were at first quite shocked at how WROC could have fitted such a large gun without severely exceeding the weight limit. Then they realised the reason for the stubby barrel. In order to for WROC to mount such a large gun on the Stewart without making the tank so heavy that it couldn't be carried, they had shortened the barrel length considerably, removing much of the gun's weight. This meant that the muzzle velocity of the M18 would be extremely low, making the gun useless for all but combat at extremely short ranges. Yet, WROC had also managed to circumvent this problem. The "Sheridan" anti tank guided missile, designed to be fired from the barrel of the M18, provided the Stewart with a deadly anti tank weapon that could track its targets. Light, airmobile and amphibious yet more than capable of outgunning all of its competition (and the majority of main battle tanks currently in service) by a considerable margin, the Stewart emerged as the winner, and WROC emerged with a contract to produce 100 Stewarts for use with the newly formed 1st Armoured Air Cavalry Brigade, which would see its first action in Vietnam. Behind the Scenes The Stewart is based on the M551 Sheridan Tank. The name "Stewart" comes from American Comedian Jon Stewart, host of the popular Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Just the Stats Vietnam Theatre Stewart Tank Tactical Analysis *'Airmobile': The Stewart Tank forms the core of the Allied Armoured Air Cavalry brigades. It is among the few vehicles light enough to be carried by a modified Cardinal helicopter, allowing it to moved from spot to spot far more quickly than if it travelled under its own power. *'Packing One Hell of a Punch': Between its gun launched anti tank guided missiles, high explosive shells, and Browning machine gun, the Stewart can deal with most threats in the Vietnam theatre quite handily. Water poses no problem for it, thanks to its amphibious capability. *'Thin Skinned': Still, its aluminium armour affords less protection than the armour of most other tanks, even ones that might be considered light tanks, a tradeoff for its ability to be transported by helicopter. Just note that it won't stand up to much punishment for long. *'Exclusive': The Stewart Tank is exclusive to Peacekeeper armoured air cavalry, who are only available as reinforcements, meaning that a Stewart is not often seen on a Vietnam battlefield. Background When the Armoured Air Cavalry Brigades were still just a concept, one of the most pressing problems was the need for a vehicle that was light enough to be transported by helicopter but packing the firepower to tackle the problem of enemy armour. Guardians were too heavy for a Cardinal to lift, and most of the vehicles that were light enough would be eaten up by armour. Moreover, the Peacekeepers were insistent on an armoured vehicle. It seemed that a new vehicle had to be designed from scratch. A competition was thus held to find a vehicle that fit all the requirements. The clear winner of the competition was WROC's M555 Stewart Tank. Impressed by the Stewart's performance, the Peacekeepers put an order for several hundred Stewarts, not only for the new Armoured Air Cavalry brigades but also for the Allied Airborne Divisions as well. When the 1st Armoured Air Cavalry brigade was formed after the end of the Third World War, the core of the newly established unit consisted of close to a hundred brand new Stewart Tanks. Shortly after the 1st's establishment, they received their first deployment: Vietnam. The entire brigade was mobilised for combat in Vietnam, basing their operations out of Thailand. In the field, the Stewarts lived up to its reputation for extreme damage output. The anti tank guided missiles could easily blow apart NVA Rhino Tanks in a single hit, their HEAT warheads effortlessly punching through the Soviet armour plating. High explosive shells allowed the Stewart to smash apart fortifications, while the Browning machine gun proved just as reliable as ever against infantry, and was even capable of swatting away helicopters and aircraft. The Stewart's light weight meant it could be quickly airlifted from trouble spot to trouble spot, allowing it to get from one place to another quickly in spite of the thick jungle terrain. Even without air transportation, the Stewart's amphibious capability meant it could ford Vietnam's rivers with ease, and its light weight would allow it to go where heavier tanks would get bogged down. Actual combat experience has revealed that the Stewart has a number of flaws, however. Armour is one of them, although this was already known to be a tradeoff for the tank's light weight. A single shot from an anti tank weapon could easily pierce the tank's ammunition compartment or fuel tanks, with potentially disastrous consequences for the tank and its crew. Also, the anti tank guided missiles have some reliability concerns, particularly in the harsh conditions of Vietnam. A few Allied officials have put forward the possibility of withdrawing the Stewart tanks from service in Vietnam and replacing them with Guardian tanks paired with Carryalls, but for now most are against the idea, especially those who have seen the devastating firepower a Stewart can unleash on the battlefield. Just the Stats Category:Units Category:Tanks Category:Vietnam Category:Units Originating from the United States